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To avoid the problems that would be inevitable with the NMFS 

 proposal, commercial fishing and environmental groups developed 

 and agreed upon an alternative management regime. The negotiated 

 proposal achieved several crucial goals: 1) it satisfies the MMPA 

 objective of minimizing incidental take while allowing fisheries 

 to continue to operate; 2) it is conservative and should help 

 depleted populations recover and avoid depletion of healthy 

 populations; 3) it ensures that attention and efforts are focused 

 on true problem areas so that limited resources can be used most 

 effectively; 4) it provides adequate mechanisms for the states, 

 the fishing industry, environmental groups, and the public to have 

 input into the management process; and 5) it avoids duplicative 

 and burdensome requirements on fishing operations. The State of 

 Alaska is in full support of the negotiated management regime 

 recommended to you by the fishing and environmental groups. 



The draft bill being considered by this Committee incorporates 

 many of the good points of the negotiated regime. The proposed 

 system for stock assessments, scientific working group review, 

 conservation teams, and conservation plans would provide detailed 

 guidance for federal agencies, and the opportunity for the 

 affected states, interest groups, and the public to have 

 substantial input into the management process. 



There are, however, some important areas in which the draft bill 

 deviates significantly from the negotiated regime. The State of 



